ous feast, at which the toast of the
evening was received with loud cries of "Le Roy Boit." Nor was this
the only festivity indulged in by the City Fathers. The "Feu St. Jean"
was solemnly lit by the senior sheriff, to the sound of pipe and
tabour. The "Buche de Noel," or Yule log, was burnt in the Grande
Salle. Here the different members of the Estates of Normandy were
feasted, here the civic ceremonials were conducted with many presents,
speeches, and "toasts." And the industries of the town seemed to
flourish, in spite of the miseries suffered under Richelieu. Trade
spread to England, Spain, Africa, Florida, Brazil; even with Canada a
brisk bartering of furs went on, and in 1627 the baptism is registered
in the Cathedral, early in December, of Amantacha, a native of Canada,
who was "held at the font" by Madame de Villars, and the Duc de
Longueville, to be blessed by Monseigneur Francois de Harlay. Half a
century later, it was from Rouen that Rene Cavalier de la Salle set
out to explore the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico; and by a Rouen
diplomat, Menager, was drawn up in 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht, against
which modern British inhabitants of Newfoundland are complaining so
bitterly in 1898.

But for Englishmen a far more interesting fact in seventeenth-century
Rouen is that Lord Clarendon died at No. 30 Rue Damiette on December
7, 1674. The house is standing still, behind a garden that is shut off
from the street by high gates, and is not open to the public, though
by a fortunate accident I was enabled to see it in the August of 1897.
It is known as the Hotel d'Aligre, and as the property of Mademoiselle
Le Verdier is almost unchanged since the great exile lived in it two
centuries ago. There are three windows on the ground floor and a
basement. Between the two windows of the first floor is a medallion
held by two figures. On each side of the circular pediment is a little
"Mansard" window in the roof, and on the pediment itself are two
statues. The windows are all decorated with carved flowers and
wreaths, and the cornice beneath the eaves is prettily ornamented.
This is the main facade looking out on the interior court. The garden
front has less decoration, but is an extremely elegant example of the
simple town house of the period. Among the shrubs the fountain for
which Lord Clarendon especially asked still plays in its old stone
basin, and beyond the trees is the Cemetery of St. Maclou.

He had lived, during